Pushed to breaking point
by Beka Alcott
Summary: And the walls come tumbling down ... set after 'Divide and Conquer'. Jack kisses Sam, when they can't stand the tension any longer. Obvious SJ theme, but I like to think it would fit into the existing SG1 universe without damaging future plotlines.


**_Pushed to breaking point_**

_I've been reading 'Birthday Traditions' by Kate McCaye and I got caught up in the moments of longing and barely-there restraint between Sam and Jack ... and it invaded my brain, eventually coallescing into this. It's set in Season 4, some time after 'Divide and Conquer' (the one with the zaytarc testing). The idea is that to help Sam deal with the aftermath of Martouf's death the team have gathered at Jack's house and its turned into a team night. Jack watches Sam dealing with all this pain, and breaks._

_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, or anything relating to the Stargate franchise, except for the DVD box-sets and my unfortunate fan-fiction addiction._

_Enjoy._

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Jack watched from the doorway as Sam floated around the kitchen in his house, clearing up the mess from SG-1's impromptu team-night. She looked beautiful. She had on black jeans and a soft blue sweater, bare-foot because her sandals were too tight and she'd shed them hours ago. Her hair was the longest he'd ever seen it, almost reaching her shoulders, and his fingers were itching to thread through it. He just stood in the doorway, watching.

Sam knew he was there. She didn't look at him, afraid of what she's see in his eyes if she did. It had been a rough few months, and the tension between them was so thick it would take more than a knife to slice through it. One or both of them was at breaking point … one misstep could ruin the carefully constructed house of cards that was their professional relationship.

Jack flexed his fingers; very little indeed was keeping him in the doorway.

The suspense became too much for Sam. She didn't need to look at Jack to know what look he was giving her, she could feel it boring into her skin.

She stopped packing plates back into the cupboards, and looked up at him.

He broke.

Jack was across the room in a few strides, and Sam didn't stop him from trapping her between his body and the cupboards behind her. His hands came to rest on the counter top on either side of her, less than an inch of space between them. She didn't move a muscle, but looked at him, _God_, she was looking at him the same way as she had from the other side of that goa'uld force shield.

'_Sir, just go!'_

'_NO!'_

Memory buzzed in the air between them. There eyes spoke a thousand words as they looked at each other, inches apart.

"I can't …" Jack's voice was barely a whisper as he confessed his weakness. He couldn't do this anymore. Right now, in this moment, he couldn't pretend he didn't love her.

"Sir, please …" Sam couldn't be the strong one for him. Not this time.

Silence descended, and a second or a year passed as they continued to gaze into each other's eyes.

Just an inch. An inch he would have to move, and he would be kissing her. Just an inch. Jack's desires and conscience warred in his mind, willing himself to move both forward that inch and backward several lightyears.

Sam's gaze flickered from his eyes to his lips, for a fraction of a second. That was all it took for one side to win the battle in Jack's head.

His arms swept up from the counter top to pull her to him, one arm around her waist as the other circled her shoulders and left his hand to cradle the back of her head, fingers entwining themselves in her hair. His lips crashed into hers, and he noted absently that her arms had leapt up to cling to him as she kissed him back.

"Jack, Teal'c wants another ginger ale, if you've got one." Daniel's voice ploughed into their consciousnesses with the finesse of a freight train, and the kiss ended as suddenly as it had begun.

They blinked at each other for a second, disoriented, arms still wrapped around each other, Jack's fingers still threading through Sam's hair.

"Coming right up." Jack called back after a second, his eyes never leaving Sam's. With immense willpower, he forced himself to let her go, and step back. She looked as shell-shocked as he felt. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a ginger ale, shutting the door and looking at his 2IC for another long moment. She smiled faintly, an acknowledgement of the stalemate they were about to reach once again. He nodded, fist landing on the table beside him like a judge's gavel, and went to rejoin his teammates in the living room, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

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_Please review. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Seriously though, I thrive on constructive comments and criticisms given by you, the readers._

_Hope you liked it._

_Beka :D  
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